Chapter 448: Friendship Clan’s Friendship-Breaking Sound (3) |
“Chul-Woo, I trusted you, but why were you not giving me enough buffs?” Kim Tae-Geon complained.
His words weren’t a big deal, but all huge issues usually started small.
It was difficult to say that he was targeting Lee Chul-Woo. He just said it to express his disappointment. He also didn’t speak loudly, so he wasn’t really trying to put the blame on someone else or start being political about it.
However, it was obvious why he was suddenly expressing his disappointment.
‘He’s embarrassed.’
It was nothing more than him giving an excuse for his poor performance, and Kim Tae-Geon was actually blushing when he said that. Even I couldn’t help but feel ashamed when I recalled how he was struggling to fight the monster head-on.
Ordinary people might question why that was a problem, and the answer was the fact that epic-ranked players with the skills to match wouldn’t fight like what he had done at all.
He had performed worse than the newbie Park Deok-Gu a long time ago.
I was sure that he was really ashamed, and I was certain that he wanted to hide somewhere. When I saw how he was glancing at me, I became sure that he didn’t want to disappoint me.
Lee Chul-Woo was also stupfied. He had never expected that Kim Tae-Geon would put the blame on him.
“I’m sorry. We decided to invest the buffs more into melee swordswoman, and Miss Ki-Yeon also suggested that we do that…” Lee Chul-Woo replied.
Lee Chul-Woo looked at the swordswoman while saying that comment. He was apologizing, but the way he tried to avoid taking responsibility reminded me of a politician.
“Miss Eun-Hye also went in too deep. I found it difficult to keep the monster’s aggro on me,” Kim Tae-Geon added.
“I just did what… Ki-Yeon unni told me to do. I moved while putting my life on the line. I was prepared to get hurt. It makes me sad to hear you say that,” Eun-Hye said.
“You should have been more aware of your surroundings while doing that. You can’t just walk in and do your job recklessly,” Kim Tae-Geon retorted.
“No, the issue started when an arrow pierced Karsak’s eye. That’s where it all started,” said Eun-Hye as he decided to shift the blame as well.
‘It was all wrong the moment it started, guys...’
However, a few people seemed to have agreed with Eun-Hye’s comment. If I had to pick a memorable scene, the attack that made the monster go on a rampage would be in my top three, and Gook Minji would likely emerge victorious.
The members started blaming each other for their lousy performance. As expected, Gook Minji knew how to escape the blame as well.
“The arrow landed during the swap, so there was nothing I could have done.”
In that case, Kim Tae-Geon and the sub-tank would most likely be blamed because it was undeniable that their swaps were awkward and weird. It wouldn’t be strange if one of them got called out for trolling based on the way they engaged the monster earlier.
The way they continued to point fingers at each other reminded me of the wheel of the Rift Museum because it seemed that someone would be randomly chosen as the scapegoat for the shameful performance earlier.
“You shouldn’t say that, Minji. Ha… do you know how difficult it is to swap without any backup?” Kim Tae-Geon asked.
‘This is where Mi-Jung joins the conversation.’
The way they continued blaming each other didn’t fit the name of their clan, but this could still be fixed. Everyone was still indecisive and conservative.
I could understand it because when I first met them, they all seemed close to each other to the point that they wouldn’t say anything that might hurt the others.
The answer was right there. Gook Minji and her party were basically trolling, but Lee Chul-Woo accepted their behavior with a smile.
Of course, he was still anxious.
Honestly, I was sure that the reason why they could raise their voices to blame each other was the great misunderstanding involving Light Ki-Yeon. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the incident helped them voice their opinions.
In the end, a small crack appeared in the relationship that was created based on deep trust. I could see it in the eyes of a few of the female members. They obviously resented Lee Chul-Woo as they stared at him with grim looks.
Gook Minji was only interested in Lee Chul-Woo, so she was still staring at him with warm eyes. However, it was clear that the others still wanted to complain. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only ones who felt that way.
Lee Chul-Woo could definitely see the strange emotions in Kim Tae-Geon’s eyes.
‘This bastard is jealous.’
Kim Tae-Geon wasn’t saying anything, but I could feel that he was jealous of Lee Chul-Woo. His gaze reminded me of Jung Ha-Yan’s gaze while she was staring at Cha Hee-Ra. For a moment, I couldn’t help but think why he was jealous of Lee Chul-Woo.
A few moments later, I finally remembered how the two of them were trying to get in my good books. Then, I also recalled how I acted cute in Lee Chul-Woo’s arms earlier and how I was more sincere toward Lee Chul-Woo because he was the clan master.
‘Did I tell him that he was doing a good job during the briefing?’
I couldn’t remember it, but I could remember speaking in a way that wouldn’t ruin the clan master’s reputation among his members.
If I had treated him poorly in front of the clan members, then his authority would have gotten hurt. I couldn’t help but think that it had to be the reason why Kim Tae-Geon got jealous of Lee Chul-Woo.
He was bothered that Lee Chul-Woo was coming off as someone more competent and skilled than him. Therefore, he had to have done everything he could as a vanguard, but his actions ended up ruining everything, which embarrassed him even more.
In situations like this, the members with support roles had the advantage because there was no way that they could mess up grandly to the extent of ruining the entire expedition.
Anyway, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that a man’s jealousy was the root cause of the issue. As the voices of the clan members got louder, it became clear to me what I had to do. I had to stop them from fighting and make Kim Tae-Geon feel better.
“So why?! Why didn’t you check whether the monster is on a rampage or not? This isn’t your first time fighting a monster, right?” Kim Tae-Geon yelled.
“I already told you that I had to focus on someone else. I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think it’s entirely my fault,” Lee Chul-Woo argued.
“Yeah, you have always been like that. You’re never wrong,” said Kim Tae-Geon.
This is where I come in.
“No, everyone did well. It’s my first time here, and I feel like I made a difficult request… Every party hunts differently, and I feel like I said things without thinking. I think it’ll be better if you hunt the way you used to.”
‘You incompetent fools. The future of the continent looks grim. What should we do?’
“It’s fine, Miss Ki-Yeon. We agreed with the things you had mentioned, and I think it’s right to say that we simply lack experience,” Lee Chul-Woo said.
“That’s not true. We managed to take care of the first monster without any issues, so I think I caused confusion with my useless words. It’s normal for a party to take more than a day or two before the members could work harmoniously with each other. And please don’t be too stressed, Mr. Tae-Geon,” I told him.
“...”
“We already know that you’re a talented warrior. I can see how experienced you are with the way you fought the monster earlier and with the way you created space for the damage dealers,” I continued.
‘He’s smiling. He’s actually smiling so wide… You know you’re only good at fighting and making space, right?’
“I’m ashamed of my poor… performance…” Kim Tae-Geon muttered.
“No, you did everything you could as the vanguard. It wasn’t your fault, so please don’t blame yourself…”
”The fact that you fought a rampaging named monster without buffs even for a moment is something other vanguards would find hard to do,” I added and even smiled at him.
Kim Tae-Geon calmed down a bit.
“Miss Ki-Yeon is right. But I’m sure I would have done better if I had buffs,” Kim Tae-Geon remarked.
‘Why are you saying that, you crazy bastard?!’
Naturally, I glanced at Lee Chul-Woo and saw the latter’s furrowed brows, which was unlike him. His face also turned red at the comment, so I was sure that Kim Tae-Geon’s words had provoked him.
“I told you that I couldn’t have done that, Tae-Geon,” Lee Chul-Woo repeated.
“All I’m saying is that we were just unlucky, that’s all. I was just saying it to myself, so don’t worry about it, Chul-Woo,” said Kim Tae-Geon.
“How can I not worry about it? And you know I have to manage my holy power, right? If you hadn’t recklessly charged at the monster…” Lee Chul-Woo trailed off.
“What? Are you saying that the reason you ran out of holy power was that I tried my best to save the other party members by aggroing the monster?” Kim Tae-Geon questioned.
“Ha… that’s not what I meant,” Lee Chul-Woo replied.
“Yeah, right. That’s exactly what it sounded like,” Kim Tae-Geon said.
‘Stop it, you guys.’
At this point, Lee Chul-Woo would get called out for trolling. His best friend had betrayed him, and even Gook Minji started disliking him because he yelled at her earlier.
As expected, the other female members started commenting as well.
They weren’t outright dissing him, but it was true political warfare. Their attitudes changed so fast that I thought that Lee Chul-Woo should have long gotten used to their personalities. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was the opposite.
Even worse, the way they started attacking Lee Chul-Woo made them look like a group of wolves that were out to hunt the latter.
At this rate, it wouldn’t take long for Lee Chul-Woo to get called out as the troll.
‘I need to stop that.’
It didn’t really matter what would happen afterward, but I felt responsible because I felt like all this happened because of me—like I was the one who put them in this situation.
At the very least, I should spray some disinfectant on the wound.
“Everyone did well, and it’s no one’s fault, so please don’t be angry. I feel really bad now. I feel like I said something useless… Please calm down, everyone. This often happens among adventurers in an expedition, so please calm down,” I chimed in.
‘Yeah, it’s not really anyone’s fault. It’s everyone’s fault.’
“...”
“We should continue the expedition,” I suggested.
“Yes, let’s finish this,” Lee Chul-Woo said.
“Let’s do that.”
“Now that I think about it, we haven’t checked the rewards just yet.”
The party had cracked, but still…
‘There’s still room to turn this around.’
If an item above Epic came out, it would definitely improve the party’s atmosphere. The party members definitely thought the same because they started to compose themselves. It wasn’t really strange because no one would hate to receive rewards.
The members looked really excited as well.
“We should take the reward now,” Lee Chul-Woo said.
“Let’s proceed, oppas,” Gook Minji said.
“Yeah…”
“We got a rare-ranked item earlier, so it will be nice if we get an epic-ranked item this time. No, it has to be an epic-ranked item since the second monster we defeated earlier can’t be sold as a catalyst…” added Gook Minji.
“Ugh, I think the rates are very low…” Kim Tae-Geon muttered.
“We’ll know once we spin it. Let’s start,” said Gook Minji.
“I’ll spin it.”
“Goddess Benigoa, please…”
The six members closed their eyes and prayed.
The prayers of the players inside the museum would increase Benigoa’s holy power.
‘I think it’s pretty great.’
It wasn’t my intention, but I thought that the museum would really help Benigoa and the other gods. Setting that aside, one of the female members finally spun the wheel after their short prayer.
[The wheel is spinning.]
‘Let’s goooo!’
“Purple! Purple!”
[The wheel is spinning.]
“Epic rank! Epic! Or a legendary!”
[The wheel is spinning.]
“Please! Please!”
[The wheel has stopped spinning.]
“Epic rank! Epic rank!”
“Please…”
‘Let’s go! In Benigoa’s name!’
Ding!
[An average-ranked item, How the Alchemist and the Genius Swordsman Loves Manuscript Edition (Original Unedited Version - Subscription unavailable for those under 19 years old) has been selected.]
“...”
“Huh?”
“...”
Kim Tae-Geon hurled his shield away and cursed. “Shit!”
The expedition was over.
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